Witch Tradition Voodoo

Liber Mysterium
The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

By Timothy S. Brannan and The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks Team

Description: The Voodoo witches (also known as Voudounista) are probably among the most mistrusted and misunderstood of all the Traditions, save for the Malefic witches. These witches, however, are usually not evil. Their area of specialty is that of enchantments and the creation of items dealing with enchantments, both good and bad.

Voodoo witches are feared because they work in secret using strange, unknown rituals, and they often catch the blame if anything bad happens (such as a flood or a bad crop season). It is rare that a Voodoo witch would be responsible for such acts of nature, but there have been times when a Voodoo witch was banished away from a village, and managed to cause some real trouble but this behavior is looked down upon by Voodoo covens as it only justifies people’s fear of Voodoo.

There is no style of dress directly related to the Voodoo witch. Some Voodoo witches choose to dress very plainly, often trying to hide the fact that they are Voodoo. Other Voodoo witches cease caring about what the average person thinks of them. In either case, the Voodoo witch will have many different ceremonial clothes for the performance of various rituals. Typical ritual garb includes a simple linen robe or dress tied with a purple sash.

Voodoo witches are not most common among any particular race. Many races distrust them, dwarves outranking any of the other races in terms of fear of the Voodoo witch. Gnomes, elves and half-elves tend to be more tolerant to Voodoo’s mysterious magic than the other races. Humans and Halflings often view the Voodoo witch as the source of most problems.

Role: The Voodoo witch will often stay within their own home devising new enchantments and creating other devices. They also perform many rituals, more so than other witches. On occasion, people may come to the Voodoo witch seeking help, charms or wards against evil, or something to attract a certain someone.

Because local governments and religious authorities fear the Voodoo witch, she has a hard time dealing with paladins and clerics. On the other hand, she has no problems working with druids and rangers (though the occasional Voodoo witch has caused enough trouble in the wilderness to attract the attention of the often zealous druids). The Voodoo witch also tends to get along with wizards and sorcerers fine, since much of her time is spent working on the creation of arcane magical items. fighters, bards, rogues and barbarians are usually viewed with indifference, though the feeling may not be mutual.

There are many sub-traditions of voodoo. These particular ones have shared many of the same roots, but then evolved in isolation from each other. GM’s will want to use whichever sub-traditions work best with their campaign world. The examples here are from our own history.

• Bocur: One of the very few purely evil off shoots of Voodoo.
• Candomblé: (·Kun-don-blair·) A Brazilian sub-tradition related directly to Macumba. Leans more towards the darker sides of Voodoo.
• Macumba: A Voodoo sub-tradition of Brazil. Has much in common with Santería. Often very neutral.
• Obia: Also Obeah, common to the islands of the Caribbean, in particular Jamaica. Most often believed to be evil. Obia has actually been outlawed in some lands.
• Quimbanda: Also known as Cuimbanda.
• Santería: Sub-tradition that began in Cuba and spread to South-east United States. Origins go back to the Yoruba religion of West Africa. Despite the stereotype and sacrificing live chickens, a Santería witch is most often good aligned. Their powers come from spirits known as orishas.
• Voudou: A form of voodoo that is common to the peoples of Haiti. Comes from the French words ·vo· introspection, and ·du· the unknown.

Joining this Tradition: The requirements of joining the Voodoo Tradition tend to vary coven to coven. Usually, an extensive ritual is performed to initiate the ones who hear the call. After the ritual, the witch is bestowed the title of Houngan (for males) or Mambo (for females).

The Voodoo witch covens seldom meet more than once a year. However, they also perform more rituals than the average witch. It·s customary for the voodoo witch to have an extensive ritual to perform at each full and new moon. Large numbers of the participants in these rituals are not witches themselves, but lay people, sometimes referred to as ·Hounsi·. They may share the same beliefs, but are not members of a voodoo coven.

These ceremonies are loud musical explosions of dance, fire and free form religious expression. It is not uncommon for some of the participants to become overwhelmed as the Loa are communed with. Participants can be found speaking in tongues, enduring large amounts of pain, and even damage and occasionally having disease spontaneously cured.

Leaving this Tradition: Unlike some other traditions, to leave this tradition, the witch must only desire to leave the tradition. Sometimes, their persecution has pushed the voodoo witches· frustrations, and they have simply left. Ex-Voudounista are rarely sought out by current Voodoo witches, though they are viewed with some contempt. A witch who ceases practicing voodoo loses their spells and powers.

Skills & Feats: Voodoo witches prefer craft based skills that can aid them in their normal lives and their worship. They receive a +2 bonus to single craft skill of the player’s choice.

Occult Powers

• Minor: 7th Level: Learned Voodoo. At 7th level, the voodoo witch gains a +4 bonus to her spellcraft check to learn spells from the school of Enchantment. They also receive a +2 bonus to their saving throws against Enchantments.
• Medial: 13th Level: Specialist. At 13th Level, the Voodoo witch gains an extra spell at each level, as long as that spell is from the school of Enchantment. They can
  also prepare one additional spell for each spell level, as long as that spell
  is an enchantment spell.
• Greater: 19th Level: Solid Mind. At 19th Level, the Voodoo witch is immune to mind affecting magic’s, and gains a +8 bonus against all saves against spells and spell-like abilities from the school of Enchantment.

Special Benefits: Much mystery surrounds the practice of voodoo. A voodoo witch is often perceived as being more powerful than she truly is (usually 2 to 3 levels). This affects any roll in interacting with others that might be impressed by the voodoo witch’s power.

Special Restrictions: The Voodoo witch will often be in the possession of a fetish, or magical focus. In areas where Voodoo has been outlawed the possession of a fetish is usually enough to break the law. At the very least possession of a fetish is enough to add +1 to any Spot check by a Witch Finder attempting to identify a witch.

Equipment: Voodoo is the only Tradition that allows the witch to use a sharpened Athame. This ritual dagger is often used for animal sacrifice, ceremonial bloodletting or for carving magical symbols into fetishes. The Voodoo witch can use it for combat, with no penalty, but rarely do because they do not wish to damage it.

Preferred/Barred Covens: Any coven that venerates the Voodoo spirits are welcome to the Voudounista. They most often coincide with gods of Magic, Protection, Trickery domains. They have no barred covens.

Relationship to the Goddess/Patron: The Voodoo witch is more likely than any other Tradition to practice monotheistic religious worship. This is because the Voodoo witch generally looks at the God and Goddess as all-encompassing and all-present. Some Voodoo witches may follow patrons of nature or earth, though these may be few and far between.

The main Patron of the Voodoo witch is usually known by the title ‘Gros Bon Dieu’ or ‘The Great Good Godgoddess’· all other gods honoured by the Voodoo witch are lesser and subordinate to the Great God. While this Patron is the ultimate source of all, the Voudounista has more contact with intermediate spirits known as the Loa.

The Loa are the ones that grant the Voodoo witch her powers. The Loa are powerful spirits of godlike abilities. There are also know as Gheudes, Duppies or Orshas. They give the Voodoo witch her power. The various Loa are:

• Mama Aida Weido (female): The mother Goddess, wife (or mother) of Danabala. Goddess of the rainbow.
• Danbala Weido (male): The main god of the Voodoo pantheon. Snake god. Creator of the world.
• Papa LeBas (male): The devil. King of black magic.
• Baron Samedi (male): Lord of the crossroads and the cemetery. Patron loa of many voodoo witches. Appears as a skeleton in fancy dress.
• Erzulie (female): Goddess of love. Appears as a beautiful woman.
• Baron Guede (male): Lord of the Dead. Appears as a skeletal king in tattered robes, often accompanied by a court of ghosts.

Source/Views of Magic: The voodoo witch’s magic is viewed as the loa’s will being pushed through the witch. The enchantments of a witch are viewed as the goddesses will being enforced. Magic comes from the Loa. By serving the Loa and the spirits one can gain magical knowledge and thus knowledge of our world and the next one.

Voodoo witches use magical focuses to cast their spells. These focuses are known as fetishes. Every spell or type of spell has a specific fetish. The Voodoo witch can not cast any spells without the proper fetish. These typically include a poppet (doll of the victim), an animal part (such as a claw or feather) and blood (typically animal, but sometimes human).

Wealth: The voodoo witch begins with the standard allotment of money, adjusted for the economic realities of their usually poor areas (generally 10% to 20% less).

Other: As been noted voodoo witches get along well with wizards and sorcerers. Often a multiclassed Voodoo Witch/sorcerer is known as a Hoodoo, or even a Hoodoo Man. These individuals are usually given much respect in the community. Voodoo is considered a -low magic- by most Hermetics so it is very rare to see a voodoo witch entering the lodges of the Hermetic Mage. Only the most evil voudounista will consider following the path of the Warlock. Those that do are often known as Bokkors.